Berry-picker.



E. C. BREWER.

BERRY PICKER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1B. 1918.

' 1,300,566, Patented Apr. 15,1919.

anew/n m EDWARD C. BREWER, 0F SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

BERRY-PICKER.

Application filed July 18. 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD G. BREWER, a citizen of the United States,and resident of the city of Seattle, county of King, and State ofWashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBerry-Pickers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to berry pickers and consists of a cup-like bodyprovided with means for conveniently securing it to the hand and soshaped that the upper marginal edge of the cup may be used inconjunction with the thumb and the fore-finger of the hand to which itis secured, for removing the berries.

The object of my invention is to provide a device which may be securedto the hand and which will facilitate picking the berries and inaddition serve .as a-holder for a limited number of the berries thusavoiding the necessity for holding a number of the berries in the handand the danger of the berries being thus crushed.

My invention comprises certain constructions and combinations of partswhich will be herein described and then particularly pointed in theclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown my invention in its preferredform of construction.

Figure 1 is an elevation of the device, showing clearly the manner inwhich one side thereof is cut down.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the device taken from a point of View 90removed from that of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top or plan view of the device.

The body of my device consists of a cuplike construction 1,- which isprovided with a handle 2, adapted to receive one finger of the hand.This should preferably be the second finger. This handle is secured tothe cup a short distance below the upper or mar ginal edge of the cup,such distance being sufficient to provide room for the first orfore-finger of the hand against the side of the cup.

I prefer to so construct the cup and the handle that the handle may bereadily detached from the cup and shifted to the opposite side of thecup so that the device may be used either with the right or with theleft hand. A convenient manner of doing this is shown in the drawingsand consists in out ting a strip 3 from the body of the cup and pressingthe same out so as to form a strip Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 15, 1919.

Serial No. 245,553.

beneath which the end of the handle '2 may be inserted, as is clearlyshown in Fig. 1. By this construction it is easy to shift the handle towhichever side of the cup is desired.

The top of the cup, at one side, extending from a point not far fromwhere the handle is secured, is cut downward in a curve, as is clearlyshown at 4 in Figs. 1 and 2. The position of this cut is such as toaccommodate the ball or base of the thumb so that the thumb may beextended over the opening in the cup, after the manner indicated bydotted lines in Fig. 3.

This device may be made to include a bottom, like an ordinary cup or itmay be made without a bottom and have secured thereto a sack or a tube,so that berries or fruit, as soon as picked, may pass downward into areceptacle. Such a construction is shown in Fig. 2. In such a case, Iprefer to form a slight outwardly projecting flange 5, around the baseof the device, over which the sack or tube 6 is drawn and then securedby a cord or wire as 7.

In using the device, the hand would ocupy aposition with relation to thecup suchas indicated in Fig. 3. The size of the cup should be such thatthe thumb may reach across the opening in the cup and act in conjunctionwith the upper edge of .the cup to remove the berries and at the sametime, the fore-finger of the hand is free, so that it may be used withthe thumb to pick the berries after which it is only necessary torelease them and they will fall into the cup.

When the cup is filled, it may be emptied into any convenientreceptacle. In using this device, there is no possible danger ofcrushing the berries by reason of holding a number in the hand afterpicking. They are dropped into the cup where there is no danger of theirbeing crushed. The use of the device will enable a person to pick agreat many more berries in the same time and will also contribute to thesafety of the berries.

I prefer that the upper portion of the cup be not provided with a wireor other stiffening means around its margin, but may be left of thethickness of the material from which it is made. In such conditionit ispossible to bend or form the upper edge of the cup to such a shape aswill suit the hand of the user. The shape of the top of the cup shown inFig. 3 represents the shape for the reception of a finger of the handpositioned to bring the cut away portion of the out top under the ballofthe thumb and the opposite edge in position to be used with the thumbto pick the berries.

2. A berry picker comprising a cup having its top edge out down at oneside and means for detachably securing a finger receiving handle theretoat opposite sides and approximately ninety degrees from said cut awayportion. I

3. A berry picker comprising a cup-like metal body having a handlesecured thereto a short distance below its upper edge and adapted toreceive a finger of the hand, the top edge of said cup being cut downsubstantially to the level of the top of said han- V dle in a segmentlocated at little to one side of said handle.

4:. A berry picker comprising a cup having a peripherally extendingstrip raised therefrom at opposite sides and a short distance below itsupper edge, a handle adapted to receive a finger of the hand and havingan end adapted to be inserted beneath said strip, the top of the cupbeing cut down at one side between said strips.

Signed at Seattle, Washington, this 10th day of July 1918.

EDWARD C. BREWER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. v

